Ball-mill.



F. E. MARCY.

BALL NH LL.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.4, I913- RENEWED MAR. 3

Patented May 4, 1915.

1,137,?&

3 SHEETS-SHEET I- IILIuL i L J INVENTOR.

Rank 5 NW5- WITNESSES.-

ATTORNEY.

F. E. MARCY.

BALL MILL.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-5 I9I3. RENEWED MAR. 3. I915.

WIZW'ESSES:

F. E. MARCY.

BALL MILL.

APPLICATION man SEPTA. 191s. unswao MAR. a, 1915.

Patented May 4,1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 WITNESSES:

A TTOLA ET.

carries,

Farina a. sensor, or saris Lanaeimr, seas.

sans-rater.

meters.

Specification of Letters S. 'a:tent.-

i aterited May 41,3915

' Application filed September e, 1913, Serial No. 12 E132. RenewedFriar-ch 3, EH. serial Ho. 11,??9'.

To all 10/2 (Hf/it may concern:

citizen of the United States, residing at Salt Lake City, in the countyof Salt Lake and State of Utah, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Ball-Mills, of which the following is a full, clear, andex-' act description, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings,forming a part hereof.

My invention has relation to improvements in ball mills; and it consistsin the novel features of construction more fully set "forth in thespecification and pointed out in. the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a combined side elevation and longitudinalvertical. middle section taken through. the mill; 2 is in 'part avertical cross-"section the line 22 of Fig. l, and in part an elevation.of the inner component parts of the mill, said components beingsuccessively broken away in parts to expose those immediately behindthem; Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional detail on the line 3-3 of Fig. i; Fig.4 is a sectional detail on the line 4r-l of Fig.3; Fig. 5 is a sectionaldetail on. the line 5-5 of Fig. 1 taken through the spider identifiedwith the discharge trunnion of the mill; Fig. 6 is in part across-section on the line 6-4) of Fig. 1, and part an inner face vieW ofthe snail feed with the securing lugs in cross-section; Fig. 7 is a topplan of one of the boxes carrying the radial finishing screen; Fig. 8 isa cross-section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7 Fig. 9 is cross'section on.theline 9 9 of Fig. 7 10 is a face view of the open end of thescreen-box; Fig. 11 is a sectional detail of the central sleeve orsocket of the spider carried by the discharge head of the mill. showingthe inner notch on the water-supply pipe, and spray pipes radiating fromthe socket; and Fig. 12 is a cross-section onthe line 12-12 of Fig; 11.

The present invention is an improvement on the construction of ball-millforming the subject-matter of my pending a pl'ication, Serial Number750,893, filed Fe ma 26 1913; and While contemjilating the severalobjects and possessing the various advan stages of the structure of'seidlgiending application, the present mill is designed l e-passonly'minimum sized partieles the crushed @material being so screened. asto cause a return of any. coarser particles back to the Qf,r..tl1e slotsbeing a and one inch long" andE-allovvi-ng the feed or and a series ofradial finishing screens;

means for facilitating the insertion and removal or the finishingscreens; a special s of lifters for advancing the material free theintake end toward the discharge end of the crushing compartment; specialmeans for preventing an overfe'ed to the mill; means for preventing anundue accumulation of fines at the outer corners of the finishingscreen's; means for preventing clogging or blinding of the screens;means for spraying or Washirig the finishing screens; and in otherfeatures of construe-- tion the advantages of which will be fullyapparent from a detailed description of the invention which is asfollows:

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a cylindrical (preferably camiron).containcr,

drum or tumbling barrel (or equivalentytubular member) provided with aliningcf silex, hard gray iron, steel, or equivalent layer 2, saidliningbeing confined to the Walls of the barrel andto the head 3. antheintake end of the barrel, the opposite. head not necessarily requiring alining. The linmg is made up of a convenient number of removablesections bolted to the shell end head as shown.

. For convenience, the present barrel is east in two sections boltedtogether alone the flanges a, a, the. larger section being i enti. fiedwith thecruslx'ing compartment 0, and the smaller section with. thesizing or screening compartment C, the" two compartments being separatedby a transversely disposed. primary or diaphragm screen 5 (of mangenosesteel) composed of a number OLE;SQG- tions, each section being securedto thehead 4. (identified witl the smaller of the two'seg 'tieiis of thebarrel) by a bolt ,6 (with the not a on. theoutsilie ofthe mill)spanning the compartment. 67... Thescreeh 5 is;pro-

vided with radially disposed slots .8" extending over the outer and'imajor portiontherewxirnately y .Wide

pulp to enterithe sizing com partment C.

The intake for the feed or pulp is through the hollow trunnion 7 of thehead 3, the barrel rotating clockwise, that is to say, the bottom of thebarrel turning toward the observer (Fig. 1). Any suitable mechanism maybe employed for imparting rotation to the barrel, that here shown beinga gear r ng 8 on the larger section meshing with the pinion 9 on a shaftS driven by abclt-pulley leading to any source of power (not shown), aclutch 10 being employed to couple the shaft to, and uncouple the samefrom, the gear 8. The driving elements and the supportin standards T forthe mill are shown dotted ecause well understood in the art and familiarto every skilled mechanic.

In the present embodiment of my inventionzthe pulp (or mixture of orecrushed to i size mixed with water) is fed frond a launder L by means ofa snail-shell feeder 11 of conventional design, the feeder in thepresent case having secured thereto (by means of screws 12 passedthrough lugs 13.), a bell-shaped or outwardly a flaring lip or ring 14,which in turn is bolted to the flange 7 of the hollow trunnion 7 throughthe bosses e, thelatter together with thelugs 13 being cast with thering. In thisway the feeder 11 is directly secured to the trunnion 7,and is caused to rotate about the axis of the trunnion and of the millwhen rotation is imparted to the latter; Leading from the feeder is .adischarge pipe 15 spaced from the inner inwardly converging or taperingwalls of the trunnion 7 the inner end of the trunnion passage beingprovided with a se ries of circularly disposed knobs 16 to prevent thematerial from coming out of the mill when the l-atter'is in operation,the snobs or their equivalents being specially desirable with apipe-discharge such as 15. The annular (or rather conical) space orpassageway 71. between the pipe 15 and the inner wall of the trunnion 7constitutes an outlet for any over-feed, any excess of material over andabove what the mill can conveniently handle running back through saidspace and over the lip or ring 14: into the launder L (see featheredarrows Fig. 1). The feeder is-provided herein with a removable plug 17which can be taken out during the operation, and by the use of alampplaced opposite the opening, the action of the balls and pebbles andcondition of the material inside of the mill can be readily seen.Asgwell understood in the art, the inner' walls of the shell areprovided with series of projections or lifters 18 set at a diagonal,

or at an incline to the axis of rotation of the mill, f lid lifterspreventing the ore and pebbles which hug said walls from slipping. Tnthe present embodiment of my invention the lifters are preferably castto the liner sections (though they may be otherwise secured), and areprovided with opposite concave and convex faces, the concave facesforming channels or grooves m, which dip' .in' the opposite directionwith the downward sweep of the lifters for the other half revolution ofthe mi ll, such. operation necessarily resnlting by reason of theinclined disposition of the lifters 1 Fig. 2). 'lfhe mill or barrelrotating as before stated, clockwise, it follows that the concave facesor grooves m vill face downward as they approach the bottom of arotation, and will face upward when describin their upward. sweep. Sincein such upwar sweep they dip toward the dischalge end, it follows thatthe lifters or rather the channels or grooves m thereof will cause anyfluent material picked up by themto flow or migrate toward the screen 5(and hence toward the discharge end of the mill), said migration-beingin the general direction of migratioii nr flow of the material enteringthe mill through the feed pipe 15.. y

The screen 5 is dish-shaped, being provided with a central opening orpassage 0 (the slots 8 terminating a suitable distance fromthe opening)which establishes C0111? munication. he'tween the compartments 0, C'.,The compartment C is disposed between the screen 5, and head i, andbetween the-shell of the barrel and the central casting or spider 19forming an integral part oi said head. Between the inner end of the discharge trunnion 20 castwith the head 4-, and the [outer terminal of thecentral tubular portion 19' of the casting 19 isan annular dischargeopening 0 through which the finished product finds its way into thetrunnion 20, and from the latter to any'suitable launder or vessel L.

Disposed radially across the sizing compartment C, and cast with thehead t are a series of platforms or radial lifters 21 each of whichserves to support the bottom of a box 22 whose upper wall lSCOIRPOSQd ofa fine mesh or finishing screen 23, set in a marginal offset, groove ordepression in the walls of the box and secured by screws (Fig. 7). Theterminal inner portions of the side walls of the box taper inwardly soas to conto conductthe finished product to the an- I to with theopening'h, saicl shoulder-engaging the outer terminal wall of theopening 25, the *latter thus forming as it were, a socket for thedischarge end cit the box and preventing displacement theeeof when onceinserted into place. As shown in the drawings, a box 22 is inserteclintothe compaxt ment (3 between the head 4: and the diaphlegm screen 5,the irmer sile of the box preferably overlapping the seamv between twosections of the diaph-i'agrnscreen (Fig. 2). lo facilitate insertionanti removal of a box, the outerend Wall of t clatter is provicledl witha handle 26 normally projecting beyond the shell of the barrel andprotected by a hoocl or cover plate, 27 which covers the hand-holethrough which. the box is inserted, there being one hand-hole "for eachbox. The hood is preferably secured by pair of levermuts 28 passel overscrewetems 29 on the shell, the 'hoccl being provicletl with lugs orcars 80 spanning the screw, the nut being screwed against the ears,thereby clamping the hood to the shell. bonnet-shaped as shown to spanand protect the handle 26 ofthe box.

Disposed on the zinclinecl peripheral wall of the spider 19 adjacent thescreen 5, and alternating with or arranged circularly in staggeredrelation to, the openings 25, are openings 25' designed to return backto the crushing compartment any oversize or material too coarseto passthrough the meshes of the screen 23 into the box 22. These openings 25communicate with the crushing compartment C through the central passage0 of the diaphragm screen 5, (Fig. 1), the surfacesoi the screens 23being, substantially flush With What might be considered the bottoms oisaid openings (25) in contradistinction to a similar relation betweenthe boxes 22 and openings 25, the bottoms of the boxes being: flush withthe bottoms of theopenings 25. mill revolves about its axis, thefinished product runs out of the boxes 22 into the openings 25 and out,the coarse product or oversize -running along the radial screens intothe openings '25 back into the mill.

, To, facilitate the screening, and the return of this oversize backinto the mill, resort is hacl'to a series of rac'lially-clisposedspraypipes 31, having outer porticns or extensions 31 coupledtheretmsuhstantially at right 'anglesato the pipes 31, the extensionsbeing;

provided, with spray-heads or branches 32 disposed parallel to thesurfaces of the screens 23, one parallel tcthe anis oi rota The hoocl ismade in other Words, as the though the discharge trunnion 20 is a fixedor" stationary water-supply pipe 33 which terminates in. the socket 19opposite the intake ends of the spray-pipes, the end of the pipe in thesocket having a section of its upper peripheral Wall removed so as teleave a notch 34, said notch permitting a peripheral discharge of theWater from the pipe 33 to at least three of the spray-pipes as the innerintake ends thereof come opposite the notch in their revolution (withthe socket 19' which virtually forms a sleeve about the pipe 33) aboutthe axis of the iced-pipe. The Wash water is thus automatically (andsuccessively) admitted to the upper set of spray heads 32, that is tosay to the spray-heads of the radial pipes 31 whose intake ends are inposition to receive the Water delivered through the notch 34 of thefeed-pipe. The object of this arrangement must he apparent, asnecessarily the screens 23 are sprayed or washed as they approach thetop of the mill and after they have gathered up their charge, the WashWater assisting the screening and likewise carrying the oversize orcoarse material clown the screens toward the axis 01'" the barrel andtoward the openings 25 through which the oversize is returned to thecrushing compartment.

To prevent an accumulation of material at the outer corners of thescreens 23 (that is at the corners between the screens and inner Wall ofthe shell of the barrel) 1 pro vicle the shell with a seriesof bucketsor scoops 35, Which scoop up the material as the mill revolves throughthe Water and pulp, and then subsequently dump it onto the screensbelow. Without the buckets, much material would tend to collect in thecorner of the screen next the periphery, such accumulation beingundesirable; with the buckets placed in front of. the several screensthis objection is eliminated. The head 3 is provided with a man-holeclosed by a cover plate E for an obvious purpose. Features shown but notalluded to are Well understood in the art and require no do scription inthe present connection. I do not of course, intend to restrict myself tothe details here shown as they may be cleparted from without affectingthe nature of the invention.

The operation of the mill is substantially as iollows:"ihe feed or pulpis delivered wiseas already pointed out. As the barrel rotates, the:Eeeder 11 {coupled thereto) scoops up the material from the launder anddischarges it through the tube or pipe 15 into the crushing compartment(5, the latter being filled about one-third with steel balls or flintpebbles as well understood in the art, the water level being kept downby the action of the radial lifters in the coinpartnient C, to a planeapproximating the dotted line Iii-X in, Fig. 2. With the water levelkept down as represented, the buoyancy of the pebbles or balls by thewater is overcome, thus resulting in a con siderable increase in thecapacity of the mill. With the water level in tlie mill kept down asindicated, when the pulp (ore and water) enters the mill through thetrunnion '7 as described (or more properly through the pipe 15), thewater carrying the ore tends to rush through the mill rapidly under thehead which delivers it, thus cruising, the fines to migrate toward thediaphragm screen 5 and the discharge end of the mill. This action,coupled with the action of the longitudinal lifters 18 as previouslydescril'iedtends to cause a'rapid'migration of the fines in the desireddirection "through the mill. With the barrels rotation the ore tends ofcourse to hug the peripheral walls,

of the barrel, and in the general migration 01- the lines the groundmaterial passes through the radial slots 8 of the diaphragm-' screeninto'the sizing compartment C. {is it enters this cn npa-rtment thematerial flows over thefinishing screens 23, that portion {or undersize)which is fine enough to pass through said screens dropping on the radiallifters or bottoms of the boxes 22, and in the course of the rotation ofthe barrel flowing down the lifters through the openings 24-, 25, to thepassage-way 0' into and through the discharge trunnion 20 into thelaunder la. The portion or oversize which is too coarse to pass throughthe radial screens flows down the screens into and through thedi. j argeopeningsifi and opening Obs-cl: into the crushing compartment {3. itspreviously stated, this final screening and sizis facilitated by thejets from the spray-- heads 32, which flush the surfaces of the screens23 when the latter occupy the upper portion of the barrel, that is tosay, when they have rotated to points abovea horizontal .planeand dipdownward toward the axis of the barrel. The 'action of the screens 23and their radial lifters may-be compared to that of a series of listspokes along which the material runs downward toward the hub of theWheel of which such.

spokes form a: part. In my improvement these spokes are removablethrough the peripheryoi the barrel or drum 1. iris the barrel revolvesany material pickedi up by the buckets 35 will. be automatically urnpedquickly made.

ticles uniform in dimensions andeminently I adapted for concentration orany subsequent treatments known to the art; it has a maximum capacity,is simple in construction, may be readily repaired, and the first costis small. It is susceptible ofmodifica' tion in nianydetails withoutnecessitating a departure from the nature or spirit of the invention.The interior of the mill is readily accessible so that a repair may beShould there be any. overso feed of the mill the excess of the materialwill run back into the launder L through the trunnion 7, so that theoperator is given ample warning, and he can accordingly reduce the feedcoming from the original sup- 5 ply source.

It may be stated in passing that apart from the support which theplatform or lifter 21 afiords to the box 22, it has no differentfunction from that of the bottom of the 'box su ported by it. That is tosay, it serves t e purpose of a radial lifter, a though the immediatelifting of the finhed product is done by the box-bottom: ere the boxessupported in some other ,naaimer the members 21 could be dispensed with;and we should still have a combination of an ilnperforate lifter (thebottom of the box) with a radial screen acting in conjunction therewith.So far as the claims are 10; concerned therefore, it is immaterial (ex-1 cept where a specific distinction is made) which member we consider asthe radial litter; either or both may be so regarded (that is to say,the member'Ql or the bottom 1.05 of the box 22).

Having described my invention, what I claim is y 1. ln combination witha tumbling-barrel or container rotatable about an axis and provided withintake anddischarge openings, a diaphragm screen disposed across the retation axis adjacent the discharge end oi; the barrel, means in thebarrel for. effecting a. migration of the fines toward said diaphragin,radially disposed screens between said diaphragm and discharge openingoperating to' screen the fines and direct the same. toward the dischargeopening and to direct the oversize back to thebarrcl, and means on theWalls of the barrel for preventing an accumulation of fines in the outercorners of the radial screens. 2. In combination with a tumbling barrelprovided with peripheral openings and rotat-able about a fixedaxis, andhaving intake menace or container rotatable about an axis and providedwith intake and discharge Iiieitnfi,

with crushing and sizing compartments, a

screen disposed across the rotation axis and forming a division wallbetween the corn partments, and radially disposed finishing.

screens in the sizing compartment insertible thereinto through theperipheral walls of the barrel.

5. In combination with a tumbling-barrel rotatable about a fixed axis,and provided with a crushing and sizing compartment and with peripheralopenings, a screen disposed across the rotation a ris between thecompartments, radially disposed finishing screens in thesizing'compartment insertible thereinto through the peripheral openingsaforesaid, and radial imperforate members operatin in conjunction withthe finishing screens For conducting the fines out of the barrel.

6. In combination with a rotatable tumbling-barrel having .a sizingcompartment provided with a discharge opening disposed about the axis ofrotation of the barrel, radially disposed sizing screens in saidcompartment, a central member provided with a socket disposed about theaxis of the discharge opening, a water feed-pipe entering said socketand provided with peripheral discharge means within the socket,spraypipes leading from the socket and adapted to be brought intocoiiperation with said discharge means in the course of rotation of thebarrel, and means for conducting the water from the spray-pipes to thesizing screens.

7 In combination with a tumbling-barrel rotatable about a fixed axis andprovided with intake and discharge meansdisposed about said axis, asizing compartment coinmunicating with the discharge means, a memberhaving a peripheral surface forming the inner boundary of saidcompartmerit, radial sizing screens and lifters supporting the samedisposed in said compart ment about the periphery of said member,

'-. the peripheral. walls of the latter being provided with openingscircularly staggered about the rotation axis and communicatingrespectively with the lifters and screens aforesaid, and dischargingrespectively into the discharge means and into the barrel.

8. In combination with a tumbling-barrel frotatable' about a fixed axisand provided with crushing'coinpartment, and a sizing compartment havingdischarge means out of thebarrel and into the crushing compartmentrespectively, a. series of radial lifters and screens insertibleconjointly through openings in the barrel wall into the sizingcompartment and discharging through the discharge means of the sizingcompartment aforesaid out of the barrel and into the crushingcompartment, and means for holding the said lifters and screens in placewhen once inserted. I v

9. in a rotatable tumbling barrel having. a'sizing compartment, acombination box and screen insertibie thereinto through an opening inthe wall oi the barrel, a crushing'compartmcnt, and means for conductingthe fines out of the box and out of the sizin compartment through. thebarrel wall, an returnin the ore" ing compartment.

10. In combination with a tumbling-ban rel rotatable about a fixed axisand provided with a crushing compartment having an ins takeopeningdisposed about the rotation axis, and with a sizing compaitinenthaving a discharge opening disposed about the same axis, a screendisposed across the barrel and forming a division wali. between the twocompartments, radially disposed finishing screens and correspondingimperforate lifters inserted as a unit into the sizing con1- pertinentthrough the walls of the barrel and operating respectiveiy to. conductthe oversize back into the crushing compartment, and the fines outof thebarrel through the discharge opening. I

11. In a tumbling-barrel having a sizing compartment and rotatable abouta fixed axis, a combination lifter and screen insert ible into thecompartment through the wall of the barrel, a handle at the outer end ofthe lifter, anda cover plate on the barrel Wall, as set forth.

12. In a rotatable tumbling-barrel, a sizing compartment, and suitableradiall disposed combination screens and imper crate lifters in saidcompartment, conjointly removable therei rom'throughthewalls oil thebarrel, as set forth.

13. in combination with a tumbling-barrel rotatable about a fixed axisand provided with an axial discharge opening for the fines, a, sizingcompartment, a spider or ing ffom the socket of tbe s-pioler through thespider walls and rotatable therewith about the axis of the barrel, Sakieyraypipes operating to conduct the Water flint of the:

trunnion, and means intbe trunnion for discharging the material to betreated, into the barrel.

15. In combination with a tumbling bareel, provided withperiphggippenings arid rotatable about a'fixed axis, end havmg in takeand discharge means, removable lifters radiating from said axis andins'ertible into the barrel through said openings.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.v I I FRANK E. MARGY. Witnesses: e

Hm SIMPSON, GE}. P. SMITH.

